Andrew Zajicek, Youth Pastor, littleton campus

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

THE PROBLEM // The Smart Start

Have you ever done something you regretted? Gone out with someone and then hated it later? That time you cut someone with your words? When I was in elementary school, I was a very “social” kid. OK, maybe that was a generous adjective. One day, I was being social, or as my teacher put it, “disruptive,” and I kind of got in a little bit of trouble. Do you remember in elementary school that they sent home a slip for your parents to sign if you got in trouble?

OUR FIX // The Forgery

I knew that if I showed my dad that slip, I would perish in that moment. I took things into my own hands and forged my dad’s signature. It looked something like this: My teacher knew my dad’s signature well (and had common sense), and immediately could tell it was a fake. Long story short I was GROUNDED... for a long time.

The truth is, everyone has done something they have regretted. We could all have our own fail compilations. Because the problem is nothing other than us. We all have sinned. We all have fallen short. It’s why this world is just a broken place filled with evil, and wars, and The Oakland Raiders. (I was kidding about that last one...kinda). And because of our brokenness, we are destined to perish (die). See, just like my forgery, we often try to cover it up or fix our mistakes.

But the reality is, no matter what we do, there is nothing that we can do ourselves to become right with God.

Proverbs 10:22 says… “It is the LORD's blessing that makes you wealthy. Hard work can make you no richer.”

In other words… You can’t do enough work to get to God. The fact is, when we try to fix our issues we end up making it worse, or at the very least, making yourself tired without reason. It’s the story of the first half of the Bible, the Old Testament. No matter how often you go to church, or you read your Bible, or you do charitable acts, there is nothing you can do to get yourself saved.

GOD’S FIX // The Authentic Autograph

No matter what I did, the only thing that would suffice was my dad’s signature. The only way we are saved is by God and God alone: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The focus of the verse is on God, not us. The burden of saving is on God, not us. All we have to do is believe in him and we are saved. Despite the fact that we are broken sinful beings, HE LOVED the world by sending us His son and through faith giving us eternal life. Let His act of love wash over you today. You don’t have to do anything to be saved; you just get to accept this gift.

Blessings to you today!

DAY 125 - BACK TO THE BASICS